N.F.L. Commissioner Visits Boston in Bid to Stop Patriots Move

By MIKE ALLEN

Published: April 23, 1999

HARTFORD, April 22—
Worried about losing yet another team in a big-city television market, the Commissioner of the National Football League is making a last-ditch effort to persuade Massachusetts leaders to come up with a stadium deal that would satisfy the New England Patriots and prevent a move to Hartford.

The team's agreement with Connecticut for a new stadium is scheduled to be discussed at a meeting of N.F.L. owners on May 25 and 26.

Three-quarters of the 31 owners would have to approve the move. People who have talked to the owners say they are eager to keep the team in Boston -- the nation's sixth-largest television market -- rather than allow a move to Hartford -- the 27th. But owners and others also say the league would not force the Patriots' owner, Robert K. Kraft, to accept a bad deal from Massachusetts.

The Commissioner, Paul Tagliabue, is scheduled to meet Friday with the Greater Boston Chamber of Commerce, then hold a lunchtime session with Gov. Paul Cellucci and an afternoon meeting with leaders of the state legislature.

The personal intervention of the Commissioner is a blow to Connecticut officials, who had dismissed recent efforts by Massachusetts business leaders to keep the team as too little, too late.

Massachusetts business and political leaders are scrambling to undo a move that few had believed would happen until Mr. Kraft shook hands with Gov. John G. Rowland of Connecticut on a $375 million stadium deal in November. Boston residents staged a ''Save Our Patriots'' rally at the Statehouse today, and a group of Boston business leaders, headed by Paul G. Kirk Jr., a former chairman of the Democratic National Committee, has put together a campaign to keep the team from moving.

Governor Cellucci came out to the front steps of the Statehouse and told the rally that the state had a chance to win back the franchise, but he called it an ''uphill battle.

''I urge you to storm the Statehouse when this rally is over,'' he said. ''Let's get those votes we need.''

Opponents of the move point to possible environmental problems with the Hartford site and the necessity of moving an occupant, both of which could threaten the state's ability to have the stadium ready for play in 2002, a date which Mr. Kraft has insisted is a necessity.

Greg Aiello, an N.F.L. spokesman, said that team relocations are ''not viewed by anyone in the league as a positive step.

''The overall goal is to keep teams where they are, in new facilities,'' he said. ''It's important that we have a team in New York, Chicago, Los Angeles, Boston - the big cities. That's where the people are, and that's where you want to be.''

Los Angeles has been without an N.F.L. team for several years, since the Rams moved to St. Louis and the Raiders returned to Oakland. Houston, another major TV market, also has lost a team, to Nashville.

Mr. Tagliabue, at this year's Super Bowl, signaled his misgivings about the Patriots' proposed move. ''We are much, much better off with continuity with our fans and with our teams centered in major metropolitan areas and not moving prematurely to lesser metropolitan areas in term of size,'' he said.

Marc S. Ganis, the president of SportsCorp Ltd., a sports franchise and facilities consulting firm in Chicago, said Mr. Tagliabue often courts cities that are in danger of losing a team.

''What makes this so unusual is that the team owner has signed a deal for a relocation,'' Mr. Ganis said. ''But intervening events have created uncertainty for the Hartford idea, which is the opening that allows this to take place.''

Governor Rowland, the architect of the Connecticut deal, continued to express confidence that Hartford would land the Patriots. ''This is a lot of people running around trying to cover their backs,'' he said.

In a speech he delivered in Boston tonight, Mr. Rowland offered an elaborate defense of the Patriots' decision to come to Connecticut, saying ''they believe they have exhausted all their options in Massachusetts and the Boston area.

''Fundamentally nothing has changed -- in the last few days, or the last few months -- to alter the decision the Patriots originally made to enter into negotiations with Connecticut about relocating to Hartford,'' he said. ''The Patriots tried to stay in Massachusetts but for a variety of reasons, it didn't work. We have provided an opportunity for the team to stay in New England. ''

Mr. Kraft turned to Connecticut after frustration with the legislature in Massachusetts. He had agreed to spend $200 million on a new stadium near the team's present Foxboro, Mass., site, but wanted some subsidy from the state. The State Senate was willing to spend $72 million, but the House would agree to only $57 million, which Mr. Kraft said was not enough. In Hartford, the state agreed to pay all the construction costs.

Today, the Patriots issued a statement designed to soothe worried Connecticut officials, saying the team planned to file its application to move to Hartford with the league this week. ''The Patriots and their consultants continue to focus their energies on nailing down arrangements to make the stadium in Hartford a reality for the 2002 football season,'' the statement said.